Trying to alter a theme a little bit and I want to swap the animations from one theme to a new one. Here are the issues:
The theme with the animations are from a 2.2 framework file and the theme I want to add them to is a jpy (2.2.1). So, first question: would it work if I just copied the .xml files from the anim folders from one theme to another (I doubt this would work) or do I need to alter the xml files. If the latter, how and where can I alter the .xml files because the default windows .xml editor is not working for me.
Thank you.
Anyone got any advice?
The issue with this is that they are most likely incompatible with each other.
You would have to decompile the *.xml's then attempt to re-compile them after making the necessary tweaks to work with the 2.2.1 kernel.
But how to exactly do this? I know there is APK manager to decompile/re-compile the framework-res.apk - but I couldn't begin to tell you what you have to do to tweak it to work.
couple of options without decompiling:
find a theme for JPY that has the animations. the anim folder doesnt interfere with the rest of the theme, and doesnt actually include any theming in it. it is purely animations. open both framework-res.apks with 7zip or winrar(do not extract them). copy anim folder from the one with animations to the one without, then push your framework to your phone
option 2: take a stock JPY framework, use the UOT kitchen to create the animations and copy the anim folder in the same manner as above
if you look in the i9000 themes section, you will find a wide variety of themes that will work just fine for you.
Related
I am currently using the Latest Cyan Mod ( 4.1.999 something ) and I really miss the blur transition animation. Can you guys tell me if there is a way I can push it manually ?
Thanks in advance
go to spare parts and enable window animations
Well I guess u have no idea what am I talking about ! I know how to perform those simple steps ( I have been flashing mah phones and doing all kinda stuffs for a long time ). What I am asking is" the new BLUR transition animation found in some new themes ! I just wanna know if I can push it manually without actually installing the theme
Thanks btw
haven't used the blur animations myself, so i may be wrong, but take the theme with the animations, pull the folder framework-res.apk/res/anim (the first one can't recall exact name). take that folder and drag it over into an unthemed version of your rom into the same location. sign the .zip file, then flash it.
david1171 said:
haven't used the blur animations myself, so i may be wrong, but take the theme with the animations, pull the folder framework-res.apk/res/anim (the first one can't recall exact name). take that folder and drag it over into an unthemed version of your rom into the same location. sign the .zip file, then flash it.
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Thanks a lot for the info, but can you tell me how to sign the .zip file since I have not done this b4. Thanks
this is probably one of the easiest ways to set it up.
for framework-res (at least in Hero builds) you are not required to resign the apk after editting...easiest way to edit an apk is within winrar...on your computer (PC as I don't own a mac) right click on the apk and set it to open with winrar (set it as default program)
now you can edit the contents of the apk without ever extracting the contents.
So after you open take the /res/anim from file A and move it into the framework-res.apk from the build you wish to use simply ADB push (or a root file explorer or some terminal method I don't know) the file to /system/framework
reboot...and viola.
Well Im not great at directions so this is the best i can do.
Summary
There are 2 ways that I know to port a theme to your device.
1. Using the metamorph app if its a metamorph theme.
2. Using 7zip ect.. if its a flashable theme. (most common)
Metamorph Instructions
1. First things first is to download the theme that you want to port.
2. Your theme will be a zip file containing only image files from apk's
3. Put the zip file on your sd card
4. Make sure your device is set to 320x480 resolution or metamorph app will not work.
5. Open metamorph app and start a new project.
6. Locate your zip file and let all the apks load up.
7. Install each apk one at a time. Do not install any jar files as they will cause your phone not to boot.
8. Reboot and your Theme should be working on your phone.
Flashable Theme Porting Instructions
Its not that difficult, once you get the hang of how 7zip works it will be your best freind. Its just a process of dragging and dropping images from one apk to another all within 7zip.
What the metamorph app does is takes themed images and places them into the correct apks res\drawable folders in your system.
Knowing what metamorph does as an app, you can do this manually using 7zip.
1. Download the theme that you want to port. It will be a system folder with an app,framework, and font folder inside of it.
2. Open up that system folder with 7zip
3. Make a copy of the system folder of your current rom and open up that system with 7zip as well. You should now have 2 different 7zips open. Make sure to keep track of witch is witch.
4. Open up the app folder of the themed system and open up the first apk thats in there.
5. Go into the res\drawable folder in the apk in both your system and the themed system.
6. highlight and drag and drop only the images from that folder to the same folder in the other base apk. Make sure to NOT highlight any xmls.
7. Do the same for any images in any other drawable folders the are mdpi.
8. If there are only hdpi folders and no mdpi folders than you will have to convert those images to mdpi size before using them. If there are both, than only use the mdpi images.
9. When finished overwriting those images in that first apk, go back to the other apks in the app folder and do the same thing. You can do all of this from with in 7zip. No need to exit 7zip in this entire process.
10. Open up the themed framework folder and you will see a framework-res.apk file. Open up that file, you will see the same res\drawable folders.
11. Also open up the framework-res.apk from the base theme in the other 7zip as well. And overwrite the images just like the other apks making sure not to overwrite any xmls.
12. Back out of that back into the framework folder itself, if there is a services.jar in the theme than you will want to use overwrite that file as well.
13. Back out of the framework folder, If there is a fonts folder in the theme, You will want to overwrite those files as well.
14. Now you are done modifying your base theme with all the images from the theme.
15. You can now close the themed 7zip that you downloaded and leave open the 7zip containing you newly modified apks. Create a folder on your desktop called "system". Inside that, create a folder called "app", "framework", and "fonts"
16. Move only the modified apks that you replaced images in into the correct folders in your new system folder.
17. Make an androidupdate.tar with 7zip out of your new system folder and you are ready to flash it using nomorootfs method.
Tips:
Using the shift button to highlight mutiple images saves time.
Using the ctrl button to highlight images with xmls between them aaves time.
Switching views to have all images at the top and xmls at the bottom saves time.
If i forgot steps, I appologize.
Excellent guide.
The only thing I would mention is that most of the time services.jar is specific to a particular rom and as such may not work correctly with the target rom. As services.jar really only contains themed elements for the titlebar, you are better off using colorChanger's, apkTool or a hex editior to manually change the titlebar colors.
Also, in some cases (Like ProLauncher) the apk's must be signed. I prefer to use the test keys and this handy context menu here.
simple direct and effective. thanks again for all you do sir.
myn said:
Excellent guide.
The only thing I would mention is that most of the time services.jar is specific to a particular rom and as such may not work correctly with the target rom. As services.jar really only contains themed elements for the titlebar, you are better off using colorChanger's, apkTool or a hex editior to manually change the titlebar colors.
Also, in some cases (Like ProLauncher) the apk's must be signed. I prefer to use the test keys and this handy context menu here.
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Thanks for the info man.
BTW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MYN
Dzo Odex sample with standard theme
Thanks for this info. This will help a million. Could you also put light on how to odex it?
Eg: Dzo's odexed sample of donut has plastic theme, can it be changed to a standard android theme using the steps above and then odex it to create a androidinstall.tar?
Nice guide.
Thanks for making this.
Ill probably start trying to theme when i finish school in 2 weeks or so.
how to convert hdpi to mdpi
I would like to flash a new ROM but i like the stock captivate theme the best.
is there any update.zip packages of the default theme floating around? i want to wait until i know i can do it before i flash. Also, is there any way to "rip" the theme from my ROM? because then i can just do that
I posted a request for this a few weeks back and got really no help.... What I did was unzip the framework.apk's from the theme I wanted and from the JH7_OTA that's floating around here somewhere and compared the images in the drawbale-hdpi folder. I think there are some files in tw-framework.apk that need to be changed if you want to change the pull down menu.
Hope this helps
The themes are mostly inside framework-res.apk, which is very ROM-specific. You can't just install them randomly inside one another.
If you'd like to port a theme, you can either replace the image files using 7-zip, WinRAR, etc. or decompile the .apk using APK Manager for more extensive changes (things like battery mods, etc.).
MikeyMike01 said:
The themes are mostly inside framework-res.apk, which is very ROM-specific. You can't just install them randomly inside one another.
If you'd like to port a theme, you can either replace the image files using 7-zip, WinRAR, etc. or decompile the .apk using APK Manager for more extensive changes (things like battery mods, etc.).
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Click to collapse
what he said ^^^^
but as a beginner's guide, you will need to pull your FRAMEWORK-RES.APK and TWFRAMEWORK-RES.APK from /system/framework folder
For this, you will need to use either ADB or an app like ASTRO or ROOTEXPLORER
when you copy these two apk's to your computer, you will need to open it up (NOT extract it) and simply replace the images inside with those from a stock FRAMEWORK-RES.APK & TWFRAMEWORK-RES.APK
The images you want to change are going to be in res/drawable-hdpi folder
Don't just replace everything, you will need to see which one's are different.. if there is something you want to change and don't know what .png file it is, just post it back up here and I will help you out
Is it possible? I love the theme. Particularly in the notification pull-down thing with the wifi icons and such.
They are just png images in the framework. Depending on what other rom you are wanting to use it on you may be able to just swap out the framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk in /system/app. Otherwise you can just move the images into the new rom framework files (the ones used are in /res/drawable-hdpi usually). You might be interested in learning to create metamorph zip files as well.
Thank you. However, I extracted the framework-res.apk and I have found some image files, but I see none that are pull-down icons like the GPS, Wifi, Auto-rotate icons. Any help?
Not sure what you mean by metamorph.
Because they're not there.
They're in twframework-res.apk. And you have to edit the status_bar_expanded.xml to get rid of the text.
It is essentially "Gingerbread" with some minor tweaks.
The only issue you might have is when you copy all of the images out of the framework-res.apk -> drawable-hdpl folder that your menu buttons might be a little off. Unless you start out with a Dark theme that has already adjusted the menu to have a black background and white text...
I think there is a Gingerbread theme in the Theme/App forum that would be close to what your looking for.
I was trying to do a MetaMorph for this type of theme but I could never get the *.xml edits needed to overwrite using MetaMorph correctly. (Check the Q&A Sticky for MetaMorph)
... It can be done but it'd be a little more complicated
Okay, I am still trying to understand. I extracted the twframework-res.apk and took out the files from the Assonance theme. I extracted the twframework-res.apk from another theme that I liked, and replaced the Assonance parts I like into it. Now, can I just zip it back up and rename it to .apk? I'm not really sure what to do now.
Thanks for your help so far!
max
a simple question if i want to change some png in framework-res.apk i have to put them in drawable-ldpi or drawable mdpi?
also there is a way to mix a theme from theme selector and png i insert in framework-res.apk?
Can.
I only recently downloaded ninjamorph but have not tried it yet...but it's known to cause some issues if u don't use it correctly. But it is simple.
Zipthemer is also a similar and widely used tool.
Better use a PC to do it if u have access to it.
yep i'm using pc to change icons but ninjamorph for repaking the apk when finished, as far as i tried even if there are ldpi and mdpi changes only takes effect if png is modified in ldpi, and just a few works... i really have no idea why even if i overwrite them somee are still there as i never modified them
Yes our roms are a lil weird, it chooses some icons form drawable ldpi and some from mdpi. But any changes in the png always did stick for me. Are u on a theme or just on default system theme?
But use PC for the entire process and check, just open the framework apk in a zip archive, drag and drop the new png in the appropriate folder, if It is ur framework apk then no need to sign it. Just don't extract it.
Btw replace icons in both ldpi and mdpi, unless u know which icon is being used. Which icons are u trying to replace?
i can directly mount /system from recovery or do i need to use adb method? i just tried some random icons, the goal is to change lockscreen circle icons (cm7) and in-call stuff
Well yes u need adb to access anything from recovery. But u can also replace framework using root explorer, though not the best method but can be done. I've replaced lock icons..zdune's miui lock icons. U can also use a flashable zip if u know how to create one or if u find one. But root Explorer works.